CRM Solutions
(Client Relationship Management)

What is CRM?

In a nutshell, CRM (Client Relationship Management) is a software solution that helps a business improve client relationships by gathering, storing, and tapping into valuable data on clients. CRM solutions are typically database applications which allow businesses to store key data from their clients, prospects, and leads. They also usually have some kind of history for interaction with clients as well as various lead processing and prospecting tools. Some solutions integrate calendar and email functions providing an all-in-one business management package. Used effectively, this can add up to greater productivity in your sales staff, greater client retention, and greater profits.

History

CRM Solutions have been around for many years, but it has not been until the past few years that it has grown up into a stable, mature segment that has in many industries become essential to their business. In the late 1990's and early 2000's there was a lot of buzz about CRM and there were a lot of players jumping on the bandwagon of this hot new concept. Unfortunately, many of those solutions were premature and not well thought out and in the end, many of them failed leaving the buyers of the technology with no support and a flawed product. Many of these solutions were also overpriced, cashing in on the hype. All of this left business owners with a bad taste in their mouth for CRM.

In the News

Recently, Inc. Magazine published an article titled "A Second Act for CRM" (March 2005). Here are some quotes from that article:

"Customer relationship management was one of the boom's big disappointments. Now it's back - and worth another look."

"A recent study by the Gartner Group found that 60% of midsize businesses intend to adopt or expand their CRM usage over the next two years. Only 2% of the companies surveyed had no plans to tap the technology at all. Why the surge of interest? The CRM industry has improved, offering more targeted solutions, a greater range of price points, and more accountability for its own performance. 'Those without at least a loosely woven set of CRM capabilities will be at a competitive disadvantage,' says Gartner analyst Wendy S. Closes."

What Do We Offer?

We offer real world experience in implementing CRM solutions for small businesses. By implementing, I do not mean installing the software giving you the manual to read and taking off. Implementing a CRM solution involves first getting a clear understanding of what your business needs are to be able to select the appropriate solution for your situation. Then it involves installing and customizing that solution to work most effectively for your office and importing any existing data you may have . Finally we do intensive training on the solution with your staff to ensure that it is used correctly and effectively. If feasible we also like to train one or two people on your staff to perform "administrative" functions with the software to minimize your needs for us to work with the software which minimizes your costs. We are committed, however, to continuing support and will be responsive to your requests for help or further customization. This is a very important function of what we do and something that sets us apart from many of our competitors, who are eager to sell you the product, but are not able to support the solution after the sale.

Solutions To Fit Your Needs

We are partnered with several CRM solution providers including Microsoft and FrontRange and we can work with several CRM packages to ensure that you get the solution best suited to your business. Here are a few of the solutions we offer:

GoldMine
Made by FrontRange solutions who only makes two software lines - GoldMine, a sales and service oriented CRM package for small to medium size business; and HEAT, a CRM package designed specifically for call centers. Very customizable and proven in the trenches for years.
As a FrontRange reseller partner, we specialize in GoldMine customization and support. We also offer services in database conversion for companies converting their data from one CRM software to GoldMine. Further, GoldMine has a large number of third party add-ons that expand it's functionality greatly. Click here for more about our GoldMine services.

Microsoft CRM
Uses an interface familiar to many people - Microsoft Outlook. It is not just an add-on to Outlook but rather simply uses it as the front end to a very powerful CRM solution and gives you far more functionality than your out-of-the-box Outlook.

ACT!
A familiar and proven CRM package for small business, ACT! has a large installed base and many users familiar with it's interface. It is also very customizable with a lot of available optional third party add-ons.